The Andhra Pradesh government will pass a resolution in the ensuing Budget session of the state Legislature, requesting that the Centre maintain the National Population Register (NPR) as it existed in the year 2010.
Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy took to Twitter on Tuesday evening to spell out the YSRCP's stand on the NPR issue.
"Some of the questions proposed in the NPR are causing insecurities in the minds of minorities of my state. After elaborate consultations within our party, we have decided to request the Central Government to revert the conditions to those prevailing in 2010," the Chief Minister said in the first tweet.
"To this effect, we will also introduce a resolution in the upcoming Assembly session," Jagan said in the second tweet.
The Chief Minister's tweets came in the backdrop of his governments recent order, gearing up the administrative machinery for the conduct of the NPR exercise and Housing Listing and Housing Census as part of Census of India 2021 to be taken up for 45 days between April and September 2020.
"In view of a number of apprehensions and doubts being expressed in various quarters with respect to the conduct of NPR exercise, following clarifications are issued to all the District Collectors/ Principal Census Officers in the shape of "Frequently Asked Questions" (FAQ) for easy dissemination to all concerned," General Administration Department Secretary Shashi Bhushan Kumar said in the order issued on January 22.
He said people are not required to submit any document to the enumerators during the NPR exercise.
"Enumerators are just required to record whatever answers are given by the people and not to press for any further answers to any query if they do not intend to give and also not to ask for any document," Kumar said in the order.
The GAD Secretary added that all officials involved, from enumerators onwards, "have been/are being trained" to the effect that there was no requirement of submission of any document by the people during the NPR exercise, nor any requirement to insist on answer to any query if people do not intend to answer.
Jagan's deputy Chief Minister Amjad Basha and other Muslim leaders of the YSRCP had appealed to him to pass a resolution opposing NPR, Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Jagan had already assured people that NRC will not be implemented in the state. He, however, was mum on NPR and CAA. The YSRCP had voted for the Citizenship Amendment Bill in the Parliament. Deputy Chief Minister Basha recently admitted that supporting the Bill was a mistake by the YSRCP.
Addressing a series of public meetings in the state, All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) president Asaduddin Owaisi and other Muslim leaders had urged Jagan to stay the NPR, as done by Kerala.
The latest NPR is set to have 21 questions as against only 15 questions in the NPR conducted in 2010. The new NPR asks citizens to also declare date, place of birth of their parents along with details of the last place of residence, Aadhaar, Voter ID, passport number, drivers licence and mobile numbers.
Other states that have questioned the Centre over the impact of CAA-NPR-NRC on minority communities in India include Kerala, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Rajasthan.